Blame It on Liz...

Part of the reason I haven't been blogging? I've been busy! It's summer time, a gal's got to go outside and enjoy some sunshine! From walks, to baseball games, to just spending time outside--we've got to enjoy it while we can. Fall is already in the air, and after a quick Indian Summer, the winter and rain will be here before you know it!

On top of that? Well, there's work. Boring. And then making ice cream (there's a reason my Peanut Butter ice cream's getting better and better, and I still have to try the bourbon ice cream recipe!) What else? Spending some time cooking in a restaurant kitchen (which has been AWESOME, but also tiring! More on that soon.) And what else? This book:

"Chefs to Know", published by StarChefs

My colleague Liz just came back from the Star Chefs conference in New York City. What did she bring back? This amazing DICTIONARY style book of chefs to know. There are hundreds of chefs in here, listed with not only their photo, biographical information, and restaurant information, but also with some fun questions that the chefs had to answer.

For example, "Kitchen Tools: the most indispensable kitchen tool?", "Interview Questions: Favorite question to ask a prospective employee", "Chef to cook for you-the chef you'd most like to cook for you, alive or dead", and "Culinary Travel: Where you'd most like to go for culinary travel".

Can you see from this photo just how thick the spine is? Yea, we're not messing around, this is a serious book--and a GREAT resource. So basically, I've been reading this, as if it was a real novel. Page by page, in order. A to Z. So far, I'm at L.

And what else is cool about this? After the chefs section, there are pages on International Chefs, Mixologists, and Sommeliers! I think it shows have far we've gotten...a whole section devoted to Mixologists? How cool is that?

Then, it goes onto recipes from these chefs, pretty pictures, and then a crazy Index section. Sorted by Chef Last Name, Chefs by State/City, Mixologists, Sommeliers, Pastry Chefs, Restaurants, and then even by answers to their questions. For example, under the Mentors/Protegees section, you can see that under Thomas Keller, 21 chefs are listed. 21 people that either listed him as a mentor, or was listed as one of his protegees. So cool.

I hope to write more in the next few weeks. There's so much to share!